There are very few of us out there. If you have any, even one, it would be great to hear about it.

I have a thing for Topps scarcer cousins (see O Pee Chee thread) and especially for 1966 Topps Venezuelans.

There is only one fully complete 1966 Topps Venezuelan registered set in PSA, BVG, or SGC combined. I've worked very patiently to put together the second largest registered set (through BVG) at 60% complete. I'm sure there are other complete raw sets out there. I can only imagine the trove some of the Venezuelan dealers/collectors have in their possession.

Mantle is the key card of the 66 set but Aparicio is probably the most elusive, since he was/is Venezuela's King of Baseball and the most sought after card in Venezuela when these came out. I have neither but among the HOF's I do have are Clemente, Yaz, Koufax, Rose, and poorer example of Willie Mays.

I have one -- 1964 Topps Venezuelan Ken Boyer. I'm actually going to ship it with a bunch of other cards to SGC soon. Here is the front and back. The regular 64s have like an orangish back while the Venezuelans have a black back. I also provided a sample of the regular 64s.

(02-10-2012 10:26 PM)hendu29 Wrote: I have one -- 1964 Topps Venezuelan Ken Boyer. I'm actually going to ship it with a bunch of other cards to SGC soon. Here is the front and back. The regular 64s have like an orangish back while the Venezuelans have a black back. I also provided a sample of the regular 64s.

And here is the regular back:

Cool, thanks for the post. I believe that grading Venezuelans is pretty justifiable. The populations are always pretty low across the grading companies and just plain scarce no matter the condition.

The good thing about the 64s is that it's pretty clear that they are different from the regular Topps set because of the black backs. I bought a 1960 low grade PSA Whitey Ford that was labeled as a Venezuelan. Apparently PSA knew as little as I did about 1960 Venezuelans because it turns out, it is not. There's no evidence of case tampering, they just missed it. It has a cream colored back instead of gray. A couple of knowledgeable collectors in Venezuela told me that the backs on the 60s are only gray. To PSA's defense, a clear answer as to whether 1960 Venezuelans are gray or cream backed is not found anywhere on the web in any old or new Beckett guides, which I learned after hours of searching. I plan to contact PSA to see if there's any recourse. Fortunately, I did not pay a lot for the card.

I currently own 9 Topps Venezuelan cards, all PSA graded (I subbed about half of them on my own). Most of them are from my Bob Allison collection: 1962-1964-1966-1968. I kinda hoard them.....I have 4 of his 1964 card.....The only one of his that I don't have is the 1959 card, which is gonna be impossible to find. I also have a '64 HR Leaders with Killebrew, and a '66 Earl Battey.

I'm actually surprised at the prices they go for. They really aren't that expensive unless you start getting to the higher grade versions or the big names.

I commend you on working on a very challenging set! I hope that you can keep us updated on the progress!

Thanks for the link. Speaking of Venezuela and your user name, I have a Venezuelan copy of Hey Jude I bought in Venezuela when I lived there in 1975-76. If only had known about Venezuelan Topps back then.

(02-13-2012 12:26 AM)walth4 Wrote: I currently own 9 Topps Venezuelan cards, all PSA graded (I subbed about half of them on my own). Most of them are from my Bob Allison collection: 1962-1964-1966-1968. I kinda hoard them.....I have 4 of his 1964 card.....The only one of his that I don't have is the 1959 card, which is gonna be impossible to find. I also have a '64 HR Leaders with Killebrew, and a '66 Earl Battey.

I'm actually surprised at the prices they go for. They really aren't that expensive unless you start getting to the higher grade versions or the big names.

I commend you on working on a very challenging set! I hope that you can keep us updated on the progress!

I haven't looked at the PSA population report for 1964 Bobby Allison, but betting you have the majority share. I have never run across one. You may be aware of Dave's Vintage in California. He has sold a lot of Venezuelans in the past. I don't see a 1959 Allison listed on his website, but I do know he holds some that he does not publish in inventory. Might be worth reaching out to him. His website is gfg.com.

(02-14-2012 08:34 PM)coimbre 21 Wrote: I haven't looked at the PSA population report for 1964 Bobby Allison, but betting you have the majority share. I have never run across one. You may be aware of Dave's Vintage in California. He has sold a lot of Venezuelans in the past. I don't see a 1959 Allison listed on his website, but I do know he holds some that he does not publish in inventory. Might be worth reaching out to him. His website is gfg.com.

Yeah, I have 3 of the 4 currently graded 64 Allisons. I just sent another one off this week to get graded, and I'm really hoping for a 4 on it. There are 2 graded '59s, one being in the PSA Set Registry, but don't know where the other is. I'm sure there has to be more raw versions out there.

I am very familiar with Dave's Vintage. I actually purchased 3 of my Allisons from him. Good point to contact him about stuff he's not publishing. Never thought about that so I'll have to give it a try!

(02-15-2012 08:45 PM)walth4 Wrote: Yeah, I have 3 of the 4 currently graded 64 Allisons. I just sent another one off this week to get graded, and I'm really hoping for a 4 on it. There are 2 graded '59s, one being in the PSA Set Registry, but don't know where the other is. I'm sure there has to be more raw versions out there.

I am very familiar with Dave's Vintage. I actually purchased 3 of my Allisons from him. Good point to contact him about stuff he's not publishing. Never thought about that so I'll have to give it a try!

You'll be doing very well to get a 4 on any 64 Venezuelan. As for Dave, I purchased a number of 66 VZ HOF's that he did not have listed but I've noticed he's really pumped up the price of his Venezuelans over the past year. You may know John Rumierz from ebay as well. He has a pretty extensive personal collection in addition to what he has listed on ebay and could help you find your Allison as well.

(02-16-2012 04:21 PM)coimbre 21 Wrote: You'll be doing very well to get a 4 on any 64 Venezuelan. As for Dave, I purchased a number of 66 VZ HOF's that he did not have listed but I've noticed he's really pumped up the price of his Venezuelans over the past year. You may know John Rumierz from ebay as well. He has a pretty extensive personal collection in addition to what he has listed on ebay and could help you find your Allison as well.

4's are definitely tough. The one I just subbed is probably the nicest one I've had in hand, so I can only hope for a 4! I'll definitely let you know how it turns out.

I've noticed that Dave has been bumping up the prices on those Venes. He's probably figured out that he's a pretty good hub to find them. I know I paid more than I wanted for the cards I purchased from him, but they are hard to find so I was willing to pay it.

I contacted John Rumierz to see if he can be of any additional help, so thanks for that tip!

Are you a member of the Topps Venezuela Yahoo Group? I haven't been involved much there, but it's another good place to do some networking.